The Mistress's Companion
by Edna Pests
Summary: Jess Ward has been encountering poisonous monsters that everyone else dismisses as night terrors. When she meets a mysterious woman who believes her, she finds out she might have been better off alone. (Rated T for language.)
1. The Nightmare

It was the nightmare again. The same nightmare Jess had been having for a week. But though the sluggish fog of dreams filled her head, she knew it was real.

She was out on her neighborhood street. There was nothing out there but parked cars, the cold on her back, and the moonlight reflecting off the asphalt. Then her mind reverberated with a mechanical hum that didn't reach her ears, and the street light switched on. The beam shot a perfect orange circle on the street, but something dark had broken the center. A shape the size of a beetle car, black and sharp. She opened her mouth to scream, but all that came out was carbon dioxide, as if the part of her brain that delivered that order had been ripped out.

She turned, and ran, but her legs had gone stupid. The knees came up too slowly, went down like they couldn't find the ground, and then they stopped moving altogether. She quickly lost her footing, and fell. The burning pain in her knee made her eyes pop open wide, and a spark of alertness enter her skull, but in response, her lethargy doubled its strength. Lying on her front, she could sense the creature getting closer, like a warmth looming over her back.

"Move!" she rasped at herself. " _Move!_ "

But she felt certain that if her back moved a centimeter, it would be pierced.

The monster rolled over her feet. It was the feeling of a hard, leather shell over-passing her heels, and under that shell was a warm darkness, and _anything_ could be inside. The edge continued to graze up her body- skimming her shins, then her back- until it hit the ground in front of her head, and she was completely enveloped.

She pulled her limbs into a ball, then rolled onto her back.

All she saw was black, and all she felt was emptiness.

Then there was the hiss of escaping gas, and she felt air being pumped at her from either side. It was a toxic smelling gas that burned her nostrils. She coughed, the burn eating at her throat. She covered her mouth and nose, trying to block it out. Then part of her brain switched off.

...

The nightmare left her as it always did- dark hair rebelling in greasy shards against its ponytail, pallid skin, circles of grey to match the eyes above them. When she met her brother for coffee, he made no comment, already knowing the source of her disarray. Unfortunately for his patience, she was going to bring it up anyway.

"It's real." she said. "I know- I _know_ now. It's real."

"I think we already went over this, didn't we?" he said, lightly. "You agreed it was just a nightmare."

She bent her leg, putting her foot on her chair, lifted her pant leg, and showed him the dried blood on her knee.

"And this?" she said, a tight edge to her voice.

He looked at it. He didn't seem impressed.

"Doesn't look that bad." he said. "It's pretty normal, too. People get bruises all the time, and they don't know where they came from. Hell, _I_ get those."

" _Bruises_ , yes, but you don't just not notice skinning your knee!"

"Jess, if those things were really showing up every night, then someone else would have seen them. The street cameras would have definitely picked them up, and it'd be all over the news. _Relax_. Your subconscious is just stuck in a rut, or something."

...

She found herself standing in the dark street with a head full of fog. Something at the back of her head was shouting at her. She looked down the street.

 _Oh, god, there it is!_

 **PAY ATTENTION.**

That was it. That was what she'd been repeating to herself until she'd fallen asleep. If it was real, there had to be some reason behind it. There had to be some clue as to what the thing wanted. And if she wanted to convince Artie, she _had_ to find it.

She forced herself to back up, and slapped her face. This woke her up a bit. She noted the way the thing was moving. Seamlessly, as if it was never really touching the ground. If there was a creature inside, every part of it had to be very thin, and crooked, fused to the 'shell'.

As if in response to her spike of consciousness, the lethargy returned in threefold.

 _Hypnotism, or... something_. she thought, straining.

Her knees went weak, and she dropped. She lifted her heavy head.

 _LOOK AT IT! Come on!_

It had spindly, black, taloned arms coming out in every direction like a beetle, but they never touched the ground. The front had a head shaped lump protruding from it. Its skin looked like a black, and leathery tarp. On the monster's back, there were ridges and bumps, the spine underneath.

"What do you want?" she rasped.

She swallowed, and forced her voice to a weak shout.

"What do you _want?!_ "

It continued to inch closer.

It did have _one_ feature. Something black and reflective at the center of its head, the shape of a nail, and the size of a nose.

 _A visor._ she thought.

The thing started to roll over her feet, and this time, she could watch its ascent. She almost urged it to hurry. She didn't know how long her determination would last verses her overwhelming need to _sleep_.

When it covered her, she opened her mouth, and breathed deep before the breeze even started. When it did, she rolled the disgusting air around her mouth, trying to memorize the taste. It was completely unfamiliar, but it was how she'd imagine gasoline would taste.

She couldn't hold out any longer.

 _Remember this._ she thought, as she went under. _Remember this, you freaking idiot. REMEMBER IT!_

...

The sunlight streaming from her window edged onto her eyes, and she sat bolt upright on the bed. She closed her eyes, and balled her fists tightly on either side of her head.

 _Spindly, exoskeleton, visor,_ _taste!_

She smacked her tongue, trying to taste it again- and suddenly she could. Not on her tongue, but oh-so-faintly on every exhale.

Like she was a _carrier_.

...

She couldn't wait. She was bursting with the information. After showering, and throwing on some plaid and denim, she drove to her brother's place of work, and waited till he came out. He already seemed pissed. She could read it on his face.

 _This better not be about-_

"It's using me to _spread it_." she said.

"This isn't okay, Jess. I'm _working_."

"How do you think _I feel?_ " she snapped. "That gas it pumps into me? I can taste it every time I exhale. I think it might be using me to slowly poison people, or something! And its skin is just a cover! Its face is a helmet-"

She realized her facts sounded like babbling, but she was so desperate for him to understand, to validate her.

"They might be using me to _kill_ people. I don't understand it, but I know that something's very wrong. If you would just _listen to me-_ "

"Jess, _enough!_ " he snapped. "You know dad's been looking for an excuse to get you locked up ever since mom got diagnosed- and trust me, he will. So, just go home, and get some rest. I've got to work. We're _not_ talking about this again."

He turned his back, and walked back inside the building.

Warm tears started spilling down her face before she'd even registered the emotion she was feeling. It was despair, and frustration balled into a throbbing pain in her chest until all she wanted to do was run to a bathroom, and scream into her knees.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She didn't want to see anyone right now, and she certainly didn't want anyone to see _her._ She desperately swiped at her eyes, but the moment she turned, more were already streaming out.

"Oh, there now."

A thin, refined hand moved to brush away the tears.

"Come and tell mummy all about it." said the stranger.

She looked to be in her fifties, had dark hair curled at the top of her head, and a manner that was both slightly condescending and infinitely comforting, as if she knew exactly what Jess needed, and how to cater to it.

"I'm sorry." said Jess, wiping at her own face to have an excuse to cover as much of it as possible. "I don't think I know you."

The woman clucked with a little 'aw', and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm Missy," she said. "and I'm the woman who believes you."


	2. Teatime Confessions

p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Missy coaxed her to a nearby cafe, pulled her out a chair at one of the outside tables, and procured them some tea. There, without waiting for any explanation, Jess spilledspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/spanemspan class="15" style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"everything/span/emspan style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;" span style="font-family: Calibri;"to her. Every version of the nightmare, every possible detail she could recall, every theory she had. In that moment, she didn't care who Missy was, just that she was listening. And there was a vindictive fury in the confession, knowing how much her brother and father wouldn't want her to bother the woman with her paranoid ramblings. When she was done, she felt cold, but also like she'd passed a boulder./span/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Missy set down her cup and saucer, and beckoned Jess forward with two fingers. When she'd leaned forward, her elbows on the table, Missy pulled out a device that looked like a tiny gramophone horn attached to a little glass bottle filled with wires, green lights, and the tiniest of screens. She placed the horn in front of Jess's mouth./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Blow." she said./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Jess did, lightly./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Missy turned the device around to look at the screen, and Jess leaned back. The lights had turned violet./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Hmm." said Missy./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"She seemed unimpressed./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""It's nothing?" said Jess, with a sinking feeling./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Yes." said Missy, absentmindedly. "Well, it's poison."/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Oh, thankspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/spanemspan class="15" style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"god/span/emspan class="15" style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"./spanspan style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"" said Jess./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Missy shot her a smile, and went on, "Quite a dull poison, though. If you never get another dose, you'll pass it as easily as the sniffles. If their aim was to kill off the human race, the could have easily chosen a more efficient chemical."/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Then what are they after?"/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Can't you guess?"/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""I could, but it'd be wrong."/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""They're trying to convert your atmosphere to something more hospitable for them so they can invade."/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""That was my guess!"/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Right, right." Missy teased. "I believe you. Mind you, technically mine's a guess too. Do you know that my race hasspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/spanemspan class="15" style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"never/span/emspan style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;" span style="font-family: Calibri;"encountered creatures like the ones you're describing? And my race has encountered/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/spanemspan class="15" style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"everything/span/emspan style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"."/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Are you...an alien?"/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Oh, how frightening." said Missy, widening her eyes. "Are you scared?"/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""A bit."/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""And of the unknown, too. The original human fear. It does explain why your race takes so bloody long to progress."/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""I really like you so far, if it helps."/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""That's all well and good, dear, but I'm remarkably easy to like." Missy said./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Jess felt a sudden need to impress her./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""What are you doing here?" Jess asked./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Rude."/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Sorry. What brings you to Earth?"/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Missy looked at her appraisingly, then nodded. The tiny bit of approval did wonders for Jess's insides./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"emspan class="15" style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Alright, calm down./span/emspan style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;" span style="font-family: Calibri;"she thought./span/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""How kind of you to ask, Miss- Name?" Missy said./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Jessica /spanspan style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Ward/spanspan style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"."/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""How dreadful. Miss /spanspan style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Ward/spanspan style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;". I happen to be a wandering collector, of sorts. I travel all over the universe, occasionally taking a human companion, who I promptly get killed, displaced, or traumatized for life, but I'm so clever and eccentric that it's all alright! ...Do you know, that was supposed to be a parody of my best friend, but I realized it's also a rather apt description."/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""They get hurt on accident, right?"/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Oh,span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/spanemspan class="15" style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"of course/span/ememspan style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"./span/emspan style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"" said Missy, with an over-pronounced simper, and sipped her tea./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Jess wondered if she really thought her dumb enough to believe anything said in that tone of voice, or if she just didn't care./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"emspan class="15" style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"But she could just be being sarcastic. That was a pretty impertinent question to ask someone who's lost friends./span/em/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"The truth was, she wasn't ready to let go of the woman who believed her so quickly./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Are you here to collect something?" said Jess./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Mmm. We'll see." she said, putting down her cup./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"She showed Jess something that she first assumed was an iphone, but it had ornate swirls, and two odd, iron circles on the back. The screen displayed a lot of streaming white and black numbers that she really hoped Missy didn't expect her to understand./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""You've got some curious exhaust trails in your atmosphere, haven't you?" Missy said, helpfully./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Jess almost nodded, as if she could see that, but saved herself the embarrassment./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""The ship's cloaked, but the trails are most prevalent over your city." Missy continued. "I thought I'd pop in, and look for anything unusual. It breaks my little hearts to think of some advanced race preying on your quaint little southern villa. And now that I know there's injustice being done, I won't stand for it!"/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Oh, come off it." said Jess, with a grin./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"Missy gave her a side eye that made Jess afraid she'd over-stepped her bounds, but the look vanished with an, "Oh, alright."/span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""So, you're going to help us?" asked Jess./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""Of course." said Missy./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;"She reached to fix Jess's collar./span/p  
p class="p" style="margin-left: 0.0000pt; text-indent: 0.0000pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"span style="font-family: Calibri; letter-spacing: 0pt; font-size: 10pt;""After you've done a little something for me, naturally." she added./span/p 


	3. To Catch A Creature

p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"It was the witching hour, and once again, Jess Ward was standing in the middle of the street, waiting on a monster. Only this time, there was another monster behind her, and it was dressed in a smart, purple dress, kneeling behind the back of Jess's parked car./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She gave Jess a little wave./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"A few hours earlier, she'd given Jess a pill, and a plan. The pill had been pink, and bitter, and was apparently going to completely block the hypnotism induced lethargy. The plan had been terrifying./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""So, you'll pop that in your mouth, pretend our little friend is still Lugosing you, and once you're covered, you'll stand up and push him onto his back, and I'll knock him out with my sleek little electrocution thingy here." Missy had said./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I have no idea what my hand will touch when I grab the roof." Jess'd said./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Missy gave a theatrical sigh./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""But I guess I'll find out." Jess'd said, with a smile./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emHow'd she get me smiling?/em Jess reflected. emThis is, literally, my nightmare./em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The street light turned on, illuminating the creature. The familiarity of this was actually comforting. A sign that everything was going according to plan./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Until it absolutely wasn't./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The lethargy hit her head. With a flick of her pill strengthened mind, Jess defeated it. But according to Missy, she shouldn't have felt emanything. /emSomething was wrong, and she had no idea how to respond, so she just stuck with the plan, backing up slightly, but slowly, as though still under the sway./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The creature didn't move./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emI messed up. /emthought Jess. emSomehow, I screwed it all up./em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She wanted to look at Missy for guidance, but then she'd risk blowing her cover./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"As if sensing the thought, the creature's head slowly turned towards the car. With a surge of icy premonition, Jess looked to see Missy frozen- not in fear, but as though emgrabbed/em. Jess looked back at the creature. The leather on the lower half of its face sunk inwards, and tented outwards as it emscreamed/em. A high-pitched screech that cackled in her eardrums. Missy had squeezed her eyes closed, her fists balled on either side of her head, as though in great pain./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"With a muscle-bruising smash, the creature knocked Jess aside, barreling towards Missy, moving far faster than it ever had before. And Missy's slick little electrocution gadget was out of her hands, and on the pavement./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"This is where it should be mentioned that Jess had felt in her cold, trashed heart that something would inevitably go wrong, and had taken the liberty of bringing something with her without Missy's knowledge. It was a little device her grandmother had given her to be used in the event of being trapped in a crashed car. It was shaped vaguely like a small handgun, had a blade secreted in the handle for cutting seat-belts, and sharp point at the 'nozzle' for breaking windows. If the creature had a weak spot, there was only once place she'd imagine it could be./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She ran, got between Missy and the creature, grasped the Seatbelt Cutter Window Breaker Emergency Escape Tool, and smashed the point as hard as she could into the creature's visor./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The black glass shattered, and air rushed into the hole. The creature screamed, scrabbling backwards, and suddenly went limp. There was a soft thud as the edge of the shell stopped hovering, and hit the street./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emI killed it. I killed something./em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She shook her head, and turned to Missy. The older woman had propped herself up into a kneeling position, one hand on the back of the car for support. Her face was still, like she was concentrating on keeping her composure while the last of the pain ebbed away./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Jess knelt in front of her. She empathized with her, having gone through this treatment herself, but it seemed that Missy had gotten it a hundred times worse./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emOr this kind of attack is a trigger for her. /emshe thought./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She put her hand on Missy's shoulder, but instantly withdrew it once she looked up./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Are you alright?" she asked, feeling like it was the stupidest question in the world./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""...Mind control." said Missy. "Not hypnotism. emMind control./em Much more invasive, and generally nastier."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"For some reason, Jess felt like this was the first time that Missy had actually spoken to her./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Missy put a hand on her shoulder, using it to help her get on her feet./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""emWoo!/em" she crowed, waving imaginary smoke away from the creature's broken visor. "Well, look what you've done, you nasty, stabby little human. Cracked a big hole in its pretty little space suit, and let all the oxygen in. I'd have preferred to kill it myself, but I emsuppose/em you thought you were saving me. Lets see if mummy can't find a use for this old corpse, ay?"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She looked back at Jess, who was still on the ground. She stepped forward, offering her a hand up. Jess took it./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""There, now." Missy said, quietly. "It's all over. Thanks for the assistance, dear. You really weren't too awful, you know."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Jess felt a glow at the words, but at the back of her mind she sensed what she'd later identify as the sharp tip of the hook./p 


	4. Well, No One Saw This Coming

p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The next part was decidedly emun/emspectacular. Missy had Jess help her heave the creature on its back, and tie it to the top of the car by its arms. Then she had her drive them, in the dead of night, to a quaint little cottage that looked like it might house the village witch. Missy described it as 'her digs', and the very confused, balding man who lived there as being 'so obliging'. They deposited the dead creature in the cottage's living room, and then she encouraged Jess- with a hand on her back, sweeping her out of the house- to go home, and get some sleep. Jess went without a fight. She passed out mere moments after her head hit the pillow./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Only to be woken up four hours later by an authoritative knock on the door at 8am. Fortunately for her dignity, she was a paranoid little shit, and had opted to sleep fully clothed. She dragged herself to the front door, and opened it./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Gooooood morning, alien killer!" said Missy. "Oh, you're all spotty."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Stress makes sweat makes spots." said Jess./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, that's unfortunate." said Missy. "I'm sure my boyfriend managed to get very attractive assistants. No matter. We have work to do, my dearest pizza face!"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Okay, it's not emthat/em bad-"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Over her shoulder, Jess heard a familiar grumble, "What the hell...Eight in the emfreakin/em' morning-" and a chill entered her stomach./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Missy?" she said./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yes?" said Missy./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emRun/em, is what she wanted to say, but her Guinness shirt sporting father was already at her shoulder./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Can we help you?" he asked Missy, pointedly./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"All Missy had to do was look at him, and already Jess felt like this was the worst thing in the world to happen ever./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Dad, this is my photography instructor." she quickly bullshitted. "She's here to...help me with-"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""So," said Missy, as though Jess hadn't spoken, "emyou're/em the famous 'dad' of who I've heard not that much about, and yet, emquite /emenough."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Jess could feel where this was going, and couldn't stomach it./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Dad, me and Ms. Pictures- Ms. emPotts/em- need to talk in private." she said. "Why don't you go back to sleep?"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Wanting sleep too much to argue, he left, to Jess's intense relief. Missy tilted her head./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Are you ashamed of me, ducky?" asked Missy./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""No, emhim/em."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"To her relief, the head tilt turned into a chuckle./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Plus, if he knows about you, then he knows about the creatures, and he dubs me insane." she added./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""There's nothing wrong with being insane."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I know, but I don't want him to get me put away."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You've got a very lovely family, haven't you?"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""He's not as bad as I make him sound."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Really?" said Missy, giving her an odd, evaluating look. "You know, Miss Ward, I think we'll get along just fine."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Good." said Jess. "Have you figured out how we're going to use the body?"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yup!" said Missy, perkily. "We're going to emsell/em it!"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Jess's hopes sank./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emWell, she /ememspan style="text-decoration: underline;"did/span/emem say she was a collector./em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Really?" said Jess./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yes, emreally/em, you sad little thing." said Missy, and tossed Jess the vaguely iphone shaped device, which displayed several pictures of the creature's body, including one with Missy alongside it, throwing up a peace sign. "To every news outlet we can. Maybe we'll hand out some fliers as well. Wouldn't that be useful? Unless emyou/em happen to have the phone numbers of the various secret societies that make up your planet's alien-busters? No? Then this should give them a heads up. Then the good guys can take it from here. To be honest, I'm getting rather bored of this." She took her device back. "Hmm. Not this one, though." she said, deleting the selfie. "That's emhorrible/em lighting for me."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"And that's what they did. Once again usurping Jess's car, they spent the day with Missy in the passenger's seat working on a laptop she'd acquired, driving up to various radio and independent news stations, where she was expected to bumble in, sell their story, and leave a pamphlet while Missy chilled in the car. After these, Missy directed her back to the cafe where they'd met, and sipped tea from the shade while Jess awkwardly tried to persuade passers-by to take a leaflet./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You're doing great, hon'!" Missy called, when she looked back at her./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She still had about half the leaflets, but Missy eventually beckoned her to the table anyway. She sat, taking the reward cookie that was offered. She noted it was shaped suspiciously like a dog bone./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""So, now we're waiting for the alien-busters to call?" she asked./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""If you think so." said Missy, not looking up from her device./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I mean, what do we do next? You're in charge."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Am I?"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""...Right. Waiting, then."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Missy whiled away the time flicking through her device. Eventually, it started emitting sounds like a gameboy. They waited as the shadows around them started to shift. At some point, a waiter emerged, and told them they'd have to vacate the table. Missy showed him a police badge, and he left them alone. Jess almost asked if she was really a cop, but she sensed she's get an, 'Are you really this stupid?' look in return./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"When her frustration had reached its peak, she asked if she could use Missy's laptop for a moment./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hmm?" said Missy. "Oh, yes. Knock yourself out, darling."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Jess turned it to face her, and google image searched Missy's photos to see if there were any results yet. As it turned out, there were plenty. And they were all on either hokey websites, or websites mocking them for being such an obvious hoax./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emCrap, she's going to be pissed./em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She opened her mouth to say, 'Missy, no one's buying it', but a thread of suspicion stopped her. She pulled on it, following it to its base./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Did you...Did you send the pictures to hokey outlets on purpose?" Jess asked./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Missy looked up from her device, and smiled./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, look at yooou." she said. "Come and tell us, Jessie. Why would I do that?"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Are you working for them?" she asked, evenly./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Missy clucked. "Now, darling, they ravaged my mind too." Her gaze flicked over Jess's shoulder. "But I'm afraid guess-time is over."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Jess looked across the square. Coming up over the hill, in broad daylight, were two of the monsters. She registered that no one else seemed to be aware of them. Missy's pill must still be in her system./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Interesting." said Missy. "Looks like our little venture wasn't enough to convince the humans, but it emwas/em enough to convince the aliens. Or at least that you need to be dealt with, anyway. You nasty. Stabby. Human."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Jess sprang to her feet./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Missy, lets emgo!/em" she said, assuming the other had an escape planned./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Missy gave her a bewildered look./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""emI'm/em not going anywhere." she said. "It's emyour/em name on all the reports. Honestly, love, why else do you think I deleted that selfie? I look good in emevery/em lighting! Oh, and I might have spilled some of the beastie's blood on your jacket. You emare/em the one who killed him, after all."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""To save emyou!/em" Jess snapped./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She couldn't believe this. She'd found someone to put her faith in for five seconds, and then they'd turned out to be her worst nightmare./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The creatures were dangerously close now./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Missy, emplease!/em" she said./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, since you said emplease/em." said Missy./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She tossed Jess a foreign looking, light-weight handgun./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""There." said Missy. "Oh, it won't kill them, but it emwill/em make them really angry." She made a delicate shooing motion. "Off you pop."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Jess ran./p 


	5. The Chase

Jess ran to her car, and fumbling for her keys. They were gone. These were jean pockets, so there was no chance of there being any mistake about it. For a moment, she was scared they must have fallen out, but no. It was Missy. She'd never make it as easy as speeding away in a car. She wanted her _dead_. That was obvious.

Then why did Jess feel like she had to perform?

She gave up on the car, and dashed down the sidewalk, people giving her bewildered looks as she burst past them. She looked back. At the way the creatures were accelerating, there was no way they wouldn't catch her eventually. She realized what she'd have to do, and the mere thought twisted at her insides.

She pointed Missy's gun, and shouted, "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Not knowing anything except that this girl was pointing a seeming gun at them, the humans between her and her pursuers scattered.

She fired.

Nothing happened. No bullet, or laser. But the creatures' stunted arms shriveled up into themselves, and elongated again, as though in great annoyance. Their speed didn't let up, though. Not an iota.

But they were downtown. The streets were narrow, and the traffic was slow. A little, friendly looking white car was coming up.

She dashed into the street.

 _Honk-honk-honk-HOOONK!_

The driver was persistent, and pissed. There was the screech of rubber on asphalt that disgusted and terrified her to her core. The lights blared on, and the wheels skidded to halt four steps away from her.

 _SHIT!_ She'd hoped it would keep going, so she could dive out of the way, and let it smash into the creatures behind her, but that was stupid.

She ran back to the sidewalk, and straight into a little side-shop. Her very scattered thought, from a brain frenzied with fear and adrenaline, was that the creatures might not follow her in there, because they'd be too big not to knock something over, and stuff falling due to invisible interference on the shop cameras may alert the local alien-busters that something _was_ up.

"Hello!" said the shop-keeper, a 30s looking, apron-sporting man. "Can I help you find something?"

"Uh..." she said, watching the creature through the glass door. "No, I'm just...being chased."

"Chased?" he said, considerably alarmed. "Would you like me to call the police?"

 _Why did he have to be nice?_

"Um..."

The creatures weren't hesitating. She rammed her shoulder against the door, pressing it closed.

"Hold up. What are you doing?" he said, coming out from behind the counter.

The creatures gave one mighty shove, and Jess's shoes skidded on the carpet. To the shop-keeper, it must have appeared she'd thrown herself to the side as a great gust of air blew the door open.

The creatures scrambled up the door-frame until they were sideways, pulled themselves in the shop, and righted themselves. The shop-keeper was helping Jess to her feet. Once up, she ran behind the counter.

"Hey, you can't be back there!" he said, but she was already through the hall, and out the backdoor.

At this point, it should be noted that Jess was _knackered._

The door opened onto a small trash pile. Beyond that, a thin strip of pot-marked road, and wide expanse of dead grass with large, muddy patches. At the end of the field was what looked like an abandoned barn, surrounded by a wire fence. Such sights were common where she lived.

She panted, her chest aching, a stitch ripping at her side, and ran into the field. She looked back to judge just how hard she should be straining, and saw creature after creature spilling onto the dead grass, at lease five more than before. She wanted to scream in frustration, but knew she couldn't afford to lose the air. In desperation, she shot again, and again they writhed- Then her car keys flashed into her mind, and she suddenly put it together. The gun was absolutely useless other than to make her a nuisance, to make the creatures call for back up, to _ensure_ Jess's death. She tossed the gun aside, turned to face the front-

And fell knee deep into a mud pit.

 _I'm dead. I am_ _literally_ _going to die._

She yanked her leg upwards, succeeding in submerging her other. Though her chest screamed, and her mind shouted the futility, she yanked and heaved her way through the pit, until her foot hit solid ground, and she pulled her way out.

By then, the creatures were so closed that she could feel the air they displaced. She'd been planning to run _around_ the fence, but now there was no time.

A brittle claw scraped her back, and she silently thanked it, because it gave her an extra burst of speed. Sore, bleeding, and pants heavy with mud, she pulled herself up the fence. If you'd asked her before, she'd never have believed she was capable of something like this, but she was furious, and terrified, and resigned, and she was _scaling the damn fence!_

She rounded the sharp top, clutching the other side. The creatures were hovering up and along the fence, zooming faster than she could climb.

 _Screw it._ she thought, and dropped.

 _BAD IDEA! I'VE BROKEN AND CRUSHED EVERYTHING INSIDE OF ME!_

 _No!_ _No time for pain!_

She struggled to her feet, and stumbled towards the barn which, thank god, wasn't locked.

Inside it was big, empty, and grey, with sparse flecks of hay. There was a loft above with no seeming way to get into it, but she was more focused on the back door that she could barely see. She trudged towards it, her inner mantra of expletives having progressed to a constant moan, and yanked at the handle.

It didn't budge.

 _Good._ part of her thought. _Now, I can stop running._

The other part of her started crying.

"Come on, _come on_." she panted, alternately twisting, and yanking at the knob.

Then she felt the heat of sunlight on the back of her neck vanish as something blocked the front door. She closed her eyes, put her forehead against the door, and silently sobbed.

She turned around, sinking to the floor, her muscles thanking her. Creature after creature crept in, and then vanished in the barn's shadows. More than seven. More than ten.

 _I don't care. I don't care anymore._ she thought. _Just get it over with._

From the darkness, the monsters screeched.


	6. Here Come the Drums

With a resounding _slam_ , the front door swung shut, plunging them into blackness.

She heard a familiar voice above her, and felt the relieved surge of the rescued, twisted with an ill-feeling dread.

"Gooooood MORNING, VIETNAM!" Missy crowed.

There was a mechanical hum, and a shower of white sparks exploded upwards all along the bottom of the creatures' suits. The light plunged their writhing forms in and out of darkness so that they came to her in flashes, twisting their arms, and _shrieking_ in torturous pain.

Jess sprang up, clutching the door to ground her. There was a delicate halo of sparks around her feet, showing that Missy had predicted where she'd end up when she rigged the place, and had made that patch safe to stand on.

There was a final _thud_ as all of the creatures were magnetized to the ground. Then a dim, red emergency light illuminated the scene. In unison, the creatures' heads all craned upwards.

"Is everyone awake now?" said Missy. "Gooood. Jess, dear meet the Veedles. ...Well, don't be shy! Come out where I can see you. Don't worry. They can't hurt you."

 _No, but will_ _you?_

Her instincts were screaming at her not to leave the protection of the halo, but she didn't want to be a nuisance either. So she cautiously stepped out among the Veedles, just far enough so that she could see Missy standing in the loft, her little iphone-like device in hand.

"Oh, darling, are you _terribly_ upset with me?" said Missy. "You have my sincerest apologies. It was all for your own good. I wanted a decent number of them all in one place, and yes, I could have told you my plan beforehand, but, you see, I didn't _want_ to."

Her eyes flicked over Jess's sweaty and muddied form with exaggerated pity, and then she addressed the Veedles.

"Look at her." said Missy. "Look at what a pathetic, cringing thing you've made her into. I'm just kidding. She was already like that. But still," and here something dangerous lit in her eyes. "making her your prototype? Using a throng of them would've been bad enough, but no, you had to make her think she was the only one. It's a nasty business, making someone doubt their sanity for your own gain."

Jess noticed the sudden distance of memory in Missy's eyes, and guessed this was a sore subject for her.

"I'd say she deserves a little recompense, don't you?" Missy continued. "Jess? Fetch."

Missy tossed her something shiny and metallic. She caught it. It was the Seatbelt Cutter Window Breaker Emergency Escape Tool from their first night.

"Oh, go on, girl." said Missy. "Indulge yourself. You've already killed one before, and you _know_ they deserve it. So, what's the harm?"

The Veedles heads all swung to face her. She looked at them, each pinned down, and helpless.

 _What, like exactly how they treated you? They were going to murder everyone! Kill them! And using Earth's own atmosphere! What could be more fitting?_

But something hard in her stomach was giving her a flat 'no'.

She looked back up at Missy, and shook her head, though she sensed her refusal might bring her wrath.

Missy sighed.

"Believe it or not, I was giving you a gift here, Jessica." she said. "But fine. If you want something done-"

She raised her device, and the two cast iron circles glowed red hot. A scarlet-white beam vaporized the Veedle closest to Jess, sending her dashing back to the safety of the halo. She watched as the bursts of hellfire rained down from the loft, scattering the Veedles into clouds of scarlet atoms. When Missy got to the last one, she stopped.

"This one we keep." said Missy. "He's going to help us get on the ship."

Jess took a moment, then said, "Us?"

The door burst open.

"Oh, bollocks." said Missy.

Back-lit by golden sunlight was an older man, perhaps in his sixties, but straight-backed, and proud. He wore a hoodie underneath a black blazer, and had perpetually angry eyebrows. He took them in, and groaned.

"Oh, I might have _known_ it'd be you two." he said, then pointed at Missy. "The Not-Hoax-Hoax has your name written all over it!"

"She doesn't know you yet, Doctor." said Missy. "In fact, _I_ don't know you yet. Get out of here, you big spoiler!"

The older man looked at Jess with something odd in his eyes, as if he was realizing an opportunity.

"No, no, don't you go getting any ideas!" said Missy. "I've got dibs! _Again_ with the hiding, Jess? Come on out. Good. Now, have you worked it all out? No? You see, this was just a warm up. You know how to duck and weave around the beasties now, and since you've witnessed this small massacre, you won't seize up at the big one! All we have to do now is purify your lungs, generate a carbon monoxide bomb, run it up to their ship, and kill them all with it so I can have their tech! Think about it, Jess. A nice, big, undetectable spaceship for us to travel the galaxy in."

"Some of those Veedles might be prisoners." said the Doctor. "Some of them might switch sides, if given the chance. Some might not even fully understand the mission they're on! We can't just kill them all! We need to _talk_ to them! Help _me_. I can use your modified breath to home in on their tanks-"

"No, _me!_ " Missy whined, with a stamp of her foot. "We're mates, aren't we, Jess? Who listened to you when no one else would? Who helped you, and protected you? Was it this daft, old Scotsman? Where the hell was he when you were getting your brain pawed through?"

"Oh, she never cared a _fig_ for you, Jess!" the Doctor snapped. "She doesn't view humans as sentient. You were a means to an end. Nothing more."

"And what is she to _you_ , Doctor? Come on, Jess. Don't leave us hanging. Who will it be?"

Jess looked at the wall for a moment, then back at Missy. She took a few steps toward her, pressed her fingers to her lips, then lifted them towards her. Missy smiled.

"Jess, no-" the Doctor started.

Jess's hand turned in mid-air, the other fingers retracting till only the middle finger was left. She gave the Doctor a similar salute. Then, both middle fingers raised high above her head, she walked past the Doctor, and out the front door.

After a pause, Missy said, "Well, I suppose that was an option, too."


	7. Chasing the Unicorn

For the next five days, Jess kept expecting to get in trouble. Maybe someone would knock on her door to give her a ticket she couldn't pay for running into the street, or the shopkeeper would come to shout at her father for her pushing through his shop, or the police would arrest her for pointing a freaking _gun_ at citizens!

But there was nothing.

She spent the time making lists, going through her routine, nursing her bruises, and watching a lot of movies to while away the bite of her exhaustion and fear.

And then one day, as she walked out of her shift at the local food mart, there was Missy.

At first she was apprehensive, but then Missy smiled, and she was relieved. Their story was over. All that was left was epilogue.

"So, you're gainfully employed already?" said Missy.

"No. It's a volunteer position." said Jess. "They've assured me it won't guarantee me a future job, but I figured it would make me less scared of the prospect."

"Yes, that sounds like you." said Missy, looking over the building.

"So, did you kill the Veedles, and steal their tech?"

"Yes and no. My friend attempted to reason with them, but when, shock of shocks, they proved to be unreasonable, he let me kill them so he could keep his hands clean."

"What a dick."

"Excuse me!" said Missy, icy blue eyes lighting on her. "That's my _best friend_ you're talking about."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. He _is_ a dick. He turned over their gadgets to your local alien-busters, so no, no tech for us."

"Us, still?" said Jess. "You aren't mad at me?"

"Of _course_ not, darling." she said. "You'd just been through a _very traumatizing_ event, I'm sure. Obviously that would take you to a very sassy place. If we _are_ to travel together, though, I'll expect you to be more respectful in future. And the ability to follow orders is paramount."

"Travel where?"

"Well, firstly, Houston. There's a stranded Trorm there who'll take us off-planet in exchange for a jump-start for his ship. After that, we'll need to pick-up a couple of vortex manipulators, and from _there_ \- Anywhere. Anywhere that your tiny mind can fathom, and infinitely more. How does that sound?"

"Romantic."

"Yes, it _is_ a little corny, isn't it?"

"Do you do this a lot?"

"No. Am I doing it wrong? I suppose it's easier when you can wow them with your magic box- That sounded like something else."

Jess laughed, then shook her head.

"I can't." she said. "I barely know anything about you, and what I _do_ know is you jump at the chance to kill if you can get the morals to swing in your favor, and you're willing to put me through hell if it gets the job done- Which I can understand, but still, it doesn't sound like a happy, fun time."

"You also know you _like_ me." said Missy.

Jess gave her a half wince/half smile.

"Very well." said Missy. "I won't _force_ you to come. I'm not a monster. And I'm sure you'll be able to continue to resist all of time and space. To resign yourself to the mundane, to watching from the back of a crowd every time some new, would-be invader comes to town. I'll take the Westwood Bus tomorrow evening, and you'll never see me again- Except for, perhaps, a distant glimpse, like the unicorn you never chased. Good luck with this whole-"

She gestured vaguely to the dingy little market, and the surrounding flat town as she searched for the word.

"-life." she ended.

And left.

Jess watched her go.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh _hit_." she said.

She took out her phone, heart pounding, and searched: 'Westwood Bus schedule'.

 **The End**


End file.
